Pome fruit ripening systems and benefits of pre-cooling

Once again, Industrial Leridana del Frío SL - ILERFRED has been present at Fruit Attraction 2021 to show its advances in fruit and vegetable preservation technologies in which it specialises: rapid water cooling systems, hydrocooling; forced air cooling, mobile tunnels or fixed canvas tunnels; controlled atmosphere techniques and technologies for the ripening of mangoes, avocados, bananas, pears and apples. Benefits of the application of hydrocooling in the fieldIn this edition, Ilerfred emphasised the benefits of the application of hydrocooling in the field, mainly in stone fruit and vegetables, to maintain post-harvest quality, increase the useful life of the fruit and provide energy savings in the fruit and vegetable plant. "We have carried out several tests on stone fruit and we are very confident about maintaining fruit quality, increasing shelf life during post-harvest and reducing weight loss due to dehydration", comments Borja Rubio, Technician in Ilerfred. "In the case of vegetables, fantastic results have been obtained in lettuce and we are planning a series of installations", adds Laia Torregrosa, Head of R&D at the company. Systems for the ripening of pome fruitOn the other hand, the market is increasingly demanding fruit and vegetables to be consumed at their optimum point. In the case of pears and apples, chemical products are currently being applied to block their ripening in order to facilitate their transport to distant markets. Once they arrive at their destination, it is difficult to reach the optimum point demanded by clients so Ilerfred is developing artificial ripening technologies for these fruits, such as those applied to bananas, avocado and mango. Finally, Borja Rubio comments, "We have been working a lot on specific activities such as the desastringency of persimmon, citrus degreening, treatments to reduce ethylene in kiwi". "Now we are also applying ethylene catalysts to other products. We are immersed in a project with different fruits in which we are controlling the levels of ethylene in the chamber and applying a controlled atmosphere to extend their optimum conservation", concludes Laia Torregrosa. ImageFrom left to right: Josep Llorens, General Manager of Ilerfred; Laia Torregrosa, Head of R&D; and Borja Rubio, Technician in the company.